Fluid actuated head for abrading elements



July 6, 1943. H. M. WHITTAKER FLUID ACTUATED HEAD FOR ABRADING ELEMENTS Filed Aug. 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 r a d a mi. V10 WW N k M W M W W %N H N \MML Rm July 6, 1943.

H M. WHITTAKER FLUID ACTUATED HEAD FOR ABRADING ELEMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 15, 1957 b. 1 VENTOR 7 53 Harry M Wilz azh r 9 4244 TTORNE Y5.

July 6, 1943.

H. M. WHITTAKER 2,323,433 FLUID ACTUATED HEAD FOR ABRADING ELEMENTS Filed Aug. 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 5/ A6 Harry A7. l l z'i'z a e27 A TTORNE. Y5

Patented July 6,' 1943 FLUID ACTUATED HEAD FOR ABRADING ELEMENTS Harry M. Whittaker, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Micromatic Hone Corporation,

Detroit, Mich.,

a corporation of Michigan Application August 13, 1937, Serial No. -158,967 3 Claims. (Cl. 51-1843) My invention relates to abrading devices and particularly to a method and means for actuating the abrading elements of a honing tool.

Heretofore it has been the common practice to employ one or more conical elements which are movable axially of the tool as a unit or toward and away from each other for the purpose of adjusting abrading elements radially of the axis of the tool body. Various schemes have been employed to provide flexibility to the abrading elements permitting them to tilt independently of the other relative to the tool axis, and to float as a unit relative thereto. Difllculty, however, has always been experienced in view of the fact that the hardness of the abrading elements or stones is non-uniform so that certain abrading elements will others, loading certain of the elements beyond an intended amount causing the break-down and the more rapid wearing of the elements. This also has a detrimental action on the machining operation occurring on the cylinder wall and the high polish desired is difl'lcult to obtain.

In practicing my present invention, I utilize actuating means for the elements which, while operating under the same pressure, are movable independently of each other. The abrading elements are urged outwardly under like pressure,- the same or different amounts, depending upon the dissimilarity in wearof the elements. Thus if one or more of the abrading elements have worn away faster than the other, this will not Wear away faster than ever, employed for the purpose of illustration, and is not to be considered as being limited to this particular construction, as it will be understood by anyone skilled in the art that the principle herein illustrated and to be described will apply to other types of abrading devices, either to an entire abrading machine or to an independent tool.

Accordingly, the main objects of my \invention 'are: to provide individually movable abradlng elements for a honing tool; to apply like pressure to abrading elements to independently move them'radially of the axis of the honing tool; to provide a fluid pressure which operates independently for urging the abrading elements independently radially of a honing tool; to employ a plurality of pistons operated by a common source of fluid pressure for actuating abrading elements radially independently or each other;

cause an overloading condition, since, irrespective of the wear, the same pressure will b provided between the surfaces of the abrading elements and the cylinder wall. The mechanism is so constructed as to permit the feeding of one of the elements a greater amount than the other. The stone which has been worn away a greater amount is fed further outwardly than the other stone or stones and as the stone continues to wear away faster than the others, will be fed outwardly more rapidly. All of the stones will thereby be forced like pressure at all times.

I have illustrated the abrading element as being in part similar to a honing device illustrated in the copending application of K. W. Connor, Serial No. 76,519, filed April 27, 1936, now Patent No. 2,108,029, dated February 8, 1 938, and that to Harris, Serial No. 116,774, filed December 19, 1936, now Patent No. 2,252,176, dated August 12, 1941, both of which have been assigned to the assignee of the present invention, The application of my principle to this device is, howagainst the cylinder wall with become apparent and in general to provide a method and means for honing cylinder walls wherein the abrading elements are actuated independently under like pressure, which is simple in construction, positive in operation and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of my invention will be specifically pointed out, or will when referring for a better understanding of my invention, to the following description taken in conJunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a honing device embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view or the structure illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the tool' and tool head of the device illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the head and bearing support for the device;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 5, taken on the line 6-6 thereof:

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 5, taken on the line 1-! thereof; an s Fig. 8 is a view of structure similar to that illustrated in Fig. 4, showing a modified form thereof.

In the figures, I have illustrated a base ll, to which a shaft His journaled in a bearing l2, having a plurality of recesses l3, M, ii and II therein. The left hand end of the shaft II is reduced in size and provided with a collar l1 over which a spring It extends, abutting against the end of the bearing I2. The collar I1 is urged by the spring I3 against a ball-bearing I3 and a pulley 2|, all of which is secured on the end of the shaft by a collar 22. A further reduced end 23' on the shaft II projects into a hollow shaft 24 between which a plurality of needle bearings 25 are disposed. The shaft 24 is also journaled in a bracket 23 which is part of the base III. A second pulley 21 is mounted upon the hollow shaft 24, spaced from the bracket 26 by a thrust bearing 23. The pulley 21 is provided with a swash plate 29 which is provided with a recess for receiving a pin 3| projecting from the pulley 2|. The relation and operation of the pulleys and shafts have been more fully described in the above-mentioned co-pending applications and are employed to provide the synchronized rotation and reciprocation to the shaft II which may be varied by changing the size of the pulleys and speed of the motor.

A motor 33 is mounted above the bearing I2 on a plate having a hinged connection 34 on one side, the opposite side being supported through a stud 35. The stud 35 may be adjusted to tilt the plate to regulate the tension on the belts 36 connecting the pulleys 31 of the motor to the pulley 2| and 21 of the device. is free to operate on the shaft 24 against the thrust of the bearing 23, the shaft being secured to the bracket 26 by a suitable screw 40.

The opposite end of the shaft carries an adjusting head 38 from which a tool 33 projects having a plurality of abrading elements 4| which are movable radially of the axis of the tool. The tool 33 comprises a body portion 42 having oppositely disposed slots 43 therein, in which the abrading elements 4| are disposed. Sloping surfaces 44 are provided in the slot mated with a tapered portion 45 of the abrading elements. Through the relative longitudinal movement of the tool body and abrading elements, the sloping surfaces will effect the radial movement of the elements axially of the tool body.

The body portion 42 has a shank 41 disposed centrally of a housing 43 disposed in the head 38. A pin 43 extends through the shank 41 and through slots in the housing 43, the ends of the pin being received in an annular recess 52 provided in a cap threaded onto the housing 43. Through the adjustment of the cap 53 on the housing, the pin 49 is moved lengthwise thereof to adjust the shank 41 relative to the housing 43, lengthwise of the head 33. This adjustment regulates the degree of expansion capable of being applied to the abrading elements 4| through the adjustment of the actuating means therefor.

The abrading elements 4| have metal backing members 54 containing the sloping surfaces 45, which extend at 55 into the tool head 33 where they are provided with a flanged end 56. The flanged ends 56 are notched to receive a spring 51 which, in conjunction with a similar spring 53 at the outer ends of the: members 54, urges the abrading elements 4| inwardly toward the axis of the tool. From the longitudinal movement of the flanges 56, the abrading elements are moved longitudinally of the body portion 42 of the tool and, in view of the sloping surfaces 44 and 45, move radially of the tool within a predetermined limit. Further expansion or contraction is obtained through the adjustment of the body portion 42 of the tool, as pointed out hereinabove.

For effecting the movement of the flanges 66 The pulley 21 of the abrading elements 4|, a cylinder 53 is provided in the housing 43 for each element, in which "pistons 3| are mounted for movement longitudinally of the head. Piston rods 62 are connected to shoes 33, one of which engages each of the flanges "of the abrading elements 4|. Through the movement of the pistons 6| toward the tool end by the introduction of fluid in the upper end of the cylinders, the flanges 56 are moved therewith to permit the abrading elements to be contracted by the springs 51 and 63 toward the axis of the body 42. When fluid is introduced below the pistons the flanges are moved to the rear or driving portion of the device to expand the abrading elements.

The shaft journaled in the bearing housing I2 is provided with pairs of apertures 65 and 33 which communicate respectively with the fluid receiving pockets I4 and I5 provided in the housing. Fluid is delivered to the wells I4 and I3 through the conductors 63 and 1|, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The wells l3 and I6 beyond the wells l4 and 15 are employed for receiving any of the fluid whichmight leak along theshaft to be drained therefrom by the conductor 10 into a reservoir. The apertures 65 terminate in slots 13 which communicate with apertures 14 provided in the housing 43 and with apertures 15 which open into the bottom of the cylinders. The apertures 66 in the shaft II communicate at their ends 16 to the top of the cylinder. In this manner like pressure is provided to the pistons in the cylinders and, since each piston is independently movable, independent adjustment of the abrading element under like pressure is thereby provided. This is a very desirable and; an important feature of the invention, and embodies a dry honing operation in which each of the abrading elements is movable different amounts when urged by a like force. It is well known in the abrading art that the hardness of the abrading element varies and cannot be retained constant. For this reason, some of the abrading stones will deteriorate faster than others and result in the binding of the tool or the necessity of providing compensating means to permit the tool to shift relative to the cylinder. In the present invention, the wearing of one stone faster than another is no obstacle in producing a. perfect machine operation since any stone may be fed more rapidly and moved a greater distance from the axis of the tool than another as the surface of the stone wears away. However, a. like pressure is always maintained between the stone surfaces and the cylinder wall so that a perfect honing operation results.

In operation the fluid is directed into the wall I5 to provide a pressure on the top side of the pistons 6| to force the abrading elements to the right as viewed in the Fig. 4, to thereby produce the collapse of the abrading elements under the urge of the springs 51 and 53. When collapsed, a work piece may be removed from the abrading stones or a new work piece disposed relative to the stones in position to be machined. The motor 33 is operating to rotate the shaft II which is also reclprocated in view of the swash plate connection between the pulleys 2| and 21. Fluid pressure is introduced into the well I4 and vented from the wall I5 to have the pistons 6| move to the left, as viewed in the figures, to draw the abrading stones to the left which, through the operation of the engaging surfaces 44 and 45, expands the abrading elements 4|. The abrading elements will engage the surface of the work piece to be machined under a like pressure until th cperation is completed. Suitable stopelements may be employed to control the degree of expansion of the abrading elements. The adjustment of the collar 53 may be so regulated as to have th honing operation completed when the pistons 6| have reached the end of their stroke, that illustrated in Fig. 4,

In Fig.8, I have shown a modified form of adjusting heads 38 wherein only'a single pair of apertures, similar to the apertures 65, are utilized for expanding the abrading elements. Springs TI produce the reverse movement of the pistons and the contraction of the abrading stones. It will be also noted in the figure that the cylinder 18 at the bottom of the figure is of shorter length than the upper cylinder 19. When a guide element of fiber, metal, cork Or other substance is employed in the tool to expand therewith, the expansion of such material need not be as'great as that for the abrading element since the guiding member does not wear away or at least does not wear away as rapidly as the abrading stone. For this reason a less degree of expansion will be required for the guiding member.

While I have described and illustrated but two embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes,

omissions, additions and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

1 pendently of each other,

) longitudinally,

What Iv claim is: 1. The combination in a tool, of a body, longitudinally shiftable, radially movable abrading elements in said body, means for moving said ele-v ments radially when shifted longitudinally, of independent pistons for actuating said elements and means for delivering a common fluid under pressure to said pistons.

2. In an abrading tool, an abrading head comprising a plurality of longitudinally shiftable, ra-

dially movable abrading stones, independent ac- 

